We are home from our very quick trip to the UK. It was very fun.
We ended up enjoying our Maxjet flight very much. It really was all business class with all the amenities and comfort that you would find on any business class flight. And both flights ended up on time, thank goodness. The one annoying thing about flying Maxjet from Rochester is that we had to buy a separate flight from Rochester to NYC and back... which means collecting and rechecking our bags in New York. This became messy on our way to London when the Jet Blue flight was late and we were running through the airport to recheck in at the Maxjet counter. But all in all, I would definitely use Maxjet again.
We got to London after an overnight flight and rented a cute little Peugeot (pronounced Peu'jhitt in England, by the way) . Rich again mastered driving stick with his left hand on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road. Getting around the roundabouts is challenge enough for me (Look kids, Big Ben. Parliament.) I didn’t even have to navigate, thankfully for everyone involved, because we brought over Jill, our handydandy GPS system.
We drove to Bath, a very quaint little old town and stayed over there for a night at this beautiful hotel called the Royal Crescent, named suitably for the fact that it is located in a crescent shaped row of houses. It was impeccably decorated and had orchids and other pretty flowers everywhere. I loved it. Rich’s only comment was that the bed was very comfortable.
We ended up enjoying our Maxjet flight very much. It really was all business class with all the amenities and comfort that you would find on any business class flight. And both flights ended up on time, thank goodness. The one annoying thing about flying Maxjet from Rochester is that we had to buy a separate flight from Rochester to NYC and back... which means collecting and rechecking our bags in New York. This became messy on our way to London when the Jet Blue flight was late and we were running through the airport to recheck in at the Maxjet counter. But all in all, I would definitely use Maxjet again.
We got to London after an overnight flight and rented a cute little Peugeot (pronounced Peu'jhitt in England, by the way) . Rich again mastered driving stick with his left hand on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road. Getting around the roundabouts is challenge enough for me (Look kids, Big Ben. Parliament.) I didn’t even have to navigate, thankfully for everyone involved, because we brought over Jill, our handydandy GPS system.
We drove to Bath, a very quaint little old town and stayed over there for a night at this beautiful hotel called the Royal Crescent, named suitably for the fact that it is located in a crescent shaped row of houses. It was impeccably decorated and had orchids and other pretty flowers everywhere. I loved it. Rich’s only comment was that the bed was very comfortable.
Like in good English fashion, it rained and rained. For the first day this was fine because the two of us passed out cold in the hotel, waking only to eat dinner at the restaurant downstairs. Rich tried foie gras, though it took him the entire night to pronounce the ‘fois’ correctly. The restaurant was yummy but no matter what they served, the bill was preposterous knowing that the dollar is as weak as the evidence that led us to the Iraq war (or insert some other political jab on the President.) If it’s any indication, Rich didn’t even buy a t-shirt and that’s saying a lot. The man lives for t-shirt buying.
The next day after walking the adorable town in the rain, we left to head to Cornwall for Jeremy and CJ’s wedding (the reason for our trip.) We got there at about 6:30, saw Jeremy and CJ for about two seconds and went up to our room to unpack. Then we went out to dinner with Chris and Ann, our other friends and went to a bar for a few drinks. By 11:30 we were back in the hotel.
The next day after walking the adorable town in the rain, we left to head to Cornwall for Jeremy and CJ’s wedding (the reason for our trip.) We got there at about 6:30, saw Jeremy and CJ for about two seconds and went up to our room to unpack. Then we went out to dinner with Chris and Ann, our other friends and went to a bar for a few drinks. By 11:30 we were back in the hotel.
The next day Rich, Chris, Ann, and I took a walk to an art gallery and down to the beach.. We were in a town called Rock, which is on the Atlantic. It felt like we were at the jersey shore… except the architecture of the little shore houses was much different than that of New Jersey. 
Still, it was sunny and it was nice to chat by the water despite the wind!
The wedding was lots of fun. Now that Rich and I have been to two weddings in the UK, I can wrongfully generalize how weddings there are different using characteristics of Ann and Chris and Jeremy and CJ’s wedding as a guide…
1. O’ Jerusalem. Sung with lots of enthusiasm in a scene much like the one in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Despite being Jewish, you cant help but want to sing at the top of your lungs to this hymn.
2. Lots of hats. Seriously. I look like a moron in hats, but I was sad that I was not wearing a big colorful thing on my head.
3. Loooooong. Jeremy’s wedding started at 3 and ended at 1. Long day.
4. Disco. All about the after dinner disco. Cheezy dancy 80s music. Jeremy’s personal favorite song is ‘Kids in America’ and don’t you know we were all cuttin’ a rug to that one.
5. Speeches. Loooooong with lots of ‘here, here!’s added for good measure. Typically a wager as to the time from start to finish. This one lasted a bit more than 35 minutes. I was off by about 56 seconds and won the table.
The rest is similar to weddings over here complete with lots of fun and frolic. We had a fun table and enjoyed the night, though somewhere during the night, I had massive intestinal disfortitude and ended up upstairs in the room for awhile, changed, lied down for awhile, took the self portraits above (no, I wasn’t drunk), and then went back downstairs to start again! I am about a foot shorter than every single person at this wedding and never could get a good shot of the bride and groom together, but the pictures here are the best I have! The next day we returned the car and went to London, where we met up with Hazeywoo and went to dinner at a Thai restaurant nearby our hotel which landed Rich in bed for a good 24 hours with his own episode of intestinal disfortitude.
Still, it was sunny and it was nice to chat by the water despite the wind!The wedding was lots of fun. Now that Rich and I have been to two weddings in the UK, I can wrongfully generalize how weddings there are different using characteristics of Ann and Chris and Jeremy and CJ’s wedding as a guide…1. O’ Jerusalem. Sung with lots of enthusiasm in a scene much like the one in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Despite being Jewish, you cant help but want to sing at the top of your lungs to this hymn.
2. Lots of hats. Seriously. I look like a moron in hats, but I was sad that I was not wearing a big colorful thing on my head.
3. Loooooong. Jeremy’s wedding started at 3 and ended at 1. Long day.
4. Disco. All about the after dinner disco. Cheezy dancy 80s music. Jeremy’s personal favorite song is ‘Kids in America’ and don’t you know we were all cuttin’ a rug to that one.
5. Speeches. Loooooong with lots of ‘here, here!’s added for good measure. Typically a wager as to the time from start to finish. This one lasted a bit more than 35 minutes. I was off by about 56 seconds and won the table.
The rest is similar to weddings over here complete with lots of fun and frolic. We had a fun table and enjoyed the night, though somewhere during the night, I had massive intestinal disfortitude and ended up upstairs in the room for awhile, changed, lied down for awhile, took the self portraits above (no, I wasn’t drunk), and then went back downstairs to start again! I am about a foot shorter than every single person at this wedding and never could get a good shot of the bride and groom together, but the pictures here are the best I have! The next day we returned the car and went to London, where we met up with Hazeywoo and went to dinner at a Thai restaurant nearby our hotel which landed Rich in bed for a good 24 hours with his own episode of intestinal disfortitude.
Hazel and I then ended up having a day to ourselves while Rich enjoyed the city from the inside of a hotel room (the bathroom to be exact.) Despite rain and wind, we braved the city from the top of one of those Hop On, Hop Off sightseeing buses that I love. We did a full loop with a funny guide and then hopped off in Chinatown to go grab some lunch. After lunch, we walked a bit and landed on a little riverboat that did a loop around (and was included in our bus tour.) That was fun, if not more rainy… and we ended up a bit loopy by the end. 
Here are 
the pictures to prove it. After the boat, we went to Covant Gardens, where we walked until we found a pub. Had some drinks, went to dinner at a yummy Italian restaurant, and said our goodbyes. Rich missed a very fun day! The next morning Rich and I departed for the tube to the train to the plane to the plane to the car ride home.
2 comments:
what a trip...and many thanks for the photos of the river boat cruise...my fav is the 'girl pointing at map' one :)
sounds like you 2 are in one piece after your flight home....I actually managed to catch my flight - woo hoo.
Oh yea, and it's STILL raining here....
Great blog Shel. I like your description of British weddings. Uncannily accurate, although we don't seek to model our weddings on what happened in 4 Weddings and a Funeral! Still raining in London, by the way. I'm sure Jez and CJ are having a great time in Hawaii.
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